Hi Richard,

Richard Hoffmann wrote:
>
> We are running Apache 1.3b  "I think"  and we are getting this error in
> the  /logs/error_log file:
>
> [Thu Apr 13 09:46:57 2000] Server configured -- resuming normal
> operations
> [Thu Apr 13 09:47:12 2000] accept: (client socket): Unknown error
> [Thu Apr 13 09:47:14 2000] accept: (client socket): Unknown error
> [Thu Apr 13 09:47:14 2000] accept: (client socket): Unknown error
> [Thu Apr 13 09:47:14 2000] accept: (client socket): Unknown error
> [Thu Apr 13 09:47:14 2000] accept: (client socket): Unknown error
>
> Also,  on the console we get this error"
>
> NETIPC Internal Error:   Unexpected escape (211)

The unexpected escape implies to me that perhaps you don't have the latest
NSTxxxx networking patch installed.  This sound like a bug in the HP networking
code, not in Apache.

> In Nettools.net,     STATUS.TCPSTAT>>> CONNTABLE,    I counted 84
> connections in the FIN_WAIN2 state,   I don't know if this is a problem
> or not,   from what I understand I will have to restart the   987 to get
> rid of them.

An accumulation of FIN_WAIN2 connections is not unheard of.  They will
eventually disappear on their own, subject to the values configured in the
NMMGR NETXPORT.GPROT.TCP screen.

Values on that screen can be adjusted to make the FIN_WAIN2 connections
disappear faster, but you also make your system less tolerant of network
problems, and thus more likely to drop connections that experience a little bit
of trouble in say a long FTP session.

You might want to contact the HPRC for advice before adjusting those values.

FIN_WAIN2 is one of the final TCP states when a connection is being closed.  My
suspicion, which I haven't had the time to confirm, is that certain browsers or
OSes are sloppy when it comes to terminating TCP connections, and that the
final ACKs are never being sent to the 3000 (or if being sent, don't arrive for
some reason, perhaps due to rude routers or switches), so the 3000 holds the
connection in FIN_WAIN2 waiting for an ACK that never comes.

- Mark B.